just picked up a nice hobie 20, 1995, #539. Rigged it up for the first time a few days ago, and a few questions arose.

1) How important are the daggerboard positive hold system? It looks like it wasnt set up by the previous owner...

2) Didnt have the pvc pipe for the mast roation either. as of now i dont have the rotation inducer system set up. i read through the forums and found the thread about the modification from the stock system. Im probably going to end up setting that up. I couldn't find the part in the part manual though, so should i just go to the store and pick up the pipe? if so, anybody have the dimension?

3) I hear some conflicting thoughts on rig tension. what hole on the shroud adjuster do most people use? I think mine is set up at the 2nd from the top, so pretty loose as of now....

other than that, im just about ready to sail it for the first time. little nervous haha ,coming off a prindle 16.

The positive hold system is used if the carpets in the trunk don't provide enough friction to hold up the daggerboards. If the boards stay up with the carpet alone, then there's no need for the positive hold system.

The positive mast rotation system is really only necessary for racing. It provides a slight improvement in leading edge profile when sailing downwind. Don't use the original stock system since your mast can break if you forget to release it during a jibe. The bungee system that most everyone uses requres a PVC pipe (about 14" long and 3/4" to 1" OD) to hold the mast rotator bar down. Tie it to the end of the rotator bar and to a fairlead mounted just below the gooseneck fitting.

The rig on the 20 should be at least snug. No percievable looseness in the shrouds. You don't want that large rig banging around. It's impossible to say what hole the shroud adjuster should be in because that will depend on your mast rake setting. These boats are nowhere near as rake sensitive as say a Hobie 16. Set the rake so the helm is balanced. You can use the mainsheet system to tension the rig or just have someone hang of the trap wire.

Ditto on the positive mast rotation system and the pvc pipe. I bought my 20 nearly three years ago. It was missing a lot of pieces and as you are probably doing, I used the manual to set it up as best I could. Then I took it to my first regatta - boy, did the old timers have a great time picking apart my rigging and schooling me on all the latest rigging techniques. H20 sailors, especially in Division 14, are a great bunch and will gladly help a new comer set up the boat. Don't know where you are, but I'm sure that if you show up anywhere at a regatta with some H20 sailors, the oldheads will be glad to help you out. If you are in the south central US, Mid-Americas on Labor Day weekend at Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club, Lake Lewisville, TX, would be a great place to meet the Divsion 14 sailors. Here's the host fleet's web site: http://www.hobiefleet23.com/.

Even though my wells were carpeted, I bought the tensioning system for my daggerboards and thought they were a nice improvement.

Go to the Hobie Class Association web site, http://www.hcana.hobieclass.com/, and click on the "Contacts" tab and then click on "Fleet Listing". You'll find a list of all the Hobie fleets in North America. When you scroll down, you'll see seven fleets listed in New Jersey including Fleet 250 in Sandy Hook. The contact listed is Vic Simon, (732) 583-6558. He should be able to put you in contact with other H20 sailors.

alright we got problems. the port hull started taking on a lot of water. so we put the boat on the trailer, and to our surprise, both hulls have some pretty serious cracks running along the keel. ill post pics in a few mins when it stops raining. is this a common problem. the only thing i can think that caused it was that the previous owner left the hulls wet and maybe ice weakened the structure, so when we beached it they just cracked.....? not good.

The 20 does not have the hull thickness of a 18 or 16, not even close. The 20 is a blast in the ocean and reaching just past the search, but you need to baby that thing when it comes to sand. The same thing happened to me and over the winter I repaired and layed down a few extra strips of glass down my centerline. I also went in from inside the hull and reinforced the area around the dagger wells with some resin. It may add a little weight, but I'm just a hot dog sailor and love to sail the surf. One thing I quit doing was drag my boat over any sand, even in shallow water or as little as possible. Get the cat trax under it as soon as possible, it kinda kills the surf landings, but I'd rather not do that then see my boat upside down in the garage for a month. (I'm slow)If you need to do alot of beach launches, the 20 really isn't your boat, it's an 18.